Lovin' the 'Guins

It's been a good week for hockey. The Penguins are playing strong, with good improvement after a shaky beginning. Faceoff wins are the main thing I see as improved. I can't find a stat on it right off the bat, but it sure seems to me like this year's Penguins are winning a lot more. I credit Michel Therrien with that for the most part, but it sure looks like Mike Zigomanis has been a big help in that department. He's been a solid player overall, and along with Matt Cooke, Bissonnette, Goddard, Satan and Fedotenko, has helped ease the pain of the off-season losses. I still miss Georges Laraque. And Ryan Malone. (wipes a tear)

Kudos especially to Dany Sabourin for showing he can be a strong backup to Marc-Andre Fleury. I'm sure Ty Conklin's success last year was a bit disconcerting to Sabourin but he kept calm and stepped up when needed. Hockey players tend to be like that, I find, more so than other big pro athletes. Maybe it's the ice.

This week's Errey-Otica include a couple of real classics from Steigerwald.

"Tonight is Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night!" Why is hockey fighting cancer awareness? Nice tie, by the way.

"They're looking for ways to make the game more offensive!" Bob suggested they have someone come out and poop on the ice. That would be offensive. I think I mentioned naked skating. That would be dangerous AND offensive.

From Errey-

"On two occasions, Crosby has gone through the legs to find the stick."

"Beautiful play by Ference, horizontal on the ice, stick out!"

And from last night's game, talking with Steigerwald about the physical appearance of Paul Bissonnette...
"Bissonnette, he reminds me of Rick Tocchet, with those dark eyebrows and those dark eyes."

OK, Bob.

For the record, Bissonnette doesn't seem like much of a gambler to me, so I doubt he's much like Tocchet.


Until next time.

Errey-Otica

Hopefully, a semi-regular feature here as we get into Hockey Season, Errey-Otica will be a compendium of the most mind-boggling statements uttered by Pens TV broadcaster, Bob Errey. (and Steigerwald or anyone else too, if deserved.)

Bob Errey is like the anti-Mike Lange. Mike Lange makes mind-bogglingly surreal comments when a goal happens, but he's an astute observer of the game and a heck of an intelligent guy. Bob Errey, maybe one too many cross-checks from the likes of Marty McSorley.

Anyway...

Last night’s top three highlights as Errey called color on the game from between the benches.

“I feel pretty special here between Ovetchkin and Staal!”
I’ll bet you do, Bob. I’ll bet you do.

“He’s like a heat-seeking missile out there!”

At some point, in the aftermath of a vicious check;
“Mass times velocity equals force, if you remember your chemistry class!” I think I actually yelled at the screen “WHY?? WHYYYYY????” at that point.

We can all be thankful that he didn’t refer to Jordan Staal as a “pterodacTILE” or a “human tripod” at any point during the game.

Much like the Pens, I believe Bob Errey is just getting warmed up for the season ahead, and it won't be long before he's talking about running into Sid Crosby's dad in the bathroom again, or musing on the ability of the power play to penetrate the opposing goalie. We can only hope.